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US regulator ends Lucent investigation

'Don't do it again,' says SEC as pair reach agreement on reporting rules

Lucent Technologies announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement in principle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which would end the SEC's investigation of elements of the company's revenue reporting.

The agreement is still subject to the SEC's final approval.

In November and December 2000, telecoms equipment maker Lucent identified what it described as "certain revenue recognition issues" that it brought voluntarily to the SEC's attention.

Without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, Lucent said it would consent to a settlement under which it promised that there would be no future violations of the anti-fraud and reporting provisions of federal securities laws.

Under Lucent's proposed agreement, the company would pay no fines or penalties and would not be required to make any financial restatements. The settlement would conclude the SEC's investigation of Lucent.

"We self-reported certain revenue recognition issues to the SEC in November and December 2000 as soon as we discovered them and co-operated with the SEC," said Patricia Russo, chairman and chief executive at Lucent.

"We are very pleased to be able to put this issue behind us in this manner and totally focus on moving our business forward."